Improvement in harvester-rakes



UNITED STATES PATENT Cnricn.

LANCASTER, OF BALTIMORE, 'MARYLANII IM PROVEM ElNT IN HARVESTER-RAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 89,4111, dated April 27, 1869.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, I. LANCASTER, of the city and county of Baltimore, and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Harvester-Rakes; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, mak ing a part of this speciiication, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view. Fig. 2 is a sectional view, as indicated by the line w a: of Fig. l. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are views in detail of the machine.

Like letters in the figures of the drawings indicate like parts.

The nature of my invention consists in providing the inclined shaft of a harvester-rake with a sliding collar having a iiange and studs or pins thereon, in combination with a lever and the arm of a rocking shaft, said rocking shaft connecting properly with a shifting-bar on the inclined plate, whereby the driver may operate the sliding collar in such a manner with the lever as that either one or all of the rakes may be shifted while in operation, and thus pass over the grain without raking it, as occasion may require.

I construct and operate my rake as follows: A are the rake-arms, provided with angular or curved heads a, having friction-rollers b on their ends. F is the inclined plate, on which are the cam c and liange d, and also the gate q and cam-guide e. The plate is bolted to the incline of the standard H. B is the inclined shaft, passing through the plate and incline of the standard, and also through an arm, f, projecting angularly from the standard, and having a shoulder, g, formed on its upper end, by which the shaft Will be retained properly within its bearings. J arethe arms, projecting outwardly at right angles from a piece forming the head of the shaft.

The heads of the rake-arms are connected with the arm J by pivots. Thus it will be seen by the inclination of the shaft, in conjunction with the angular forms of the heads of the rake-arms, having a pivotal motionfrom the arms J, and whose motion being controlled by the cam while revolving thereupon, the falling movement of the rake-arms will assume hence give the rakes the proper sweep over the platform, and as the rising movement of the rake-arms will assume a nearly vertical position with their axis, and would, therefore, be liable to fall backward, the flange, by its inclosing the upper portion of the cam, will prevent it.

K is the collar, having a sliding movement on the shaft, but prevented from turning thereon by a groove of the collar iitting over a square piece riveted or screwed to the shaft. The collar is provided with a ange, h, and two studs or pins, projecting outwardly in opposite directions, and out of a lline with each other, the one being near the lower end of the collar, and the other next to the flange there of. L is the lever, pivoted to the fulcrum M, which is bolted to the axle beam or plate, and having a forked end embracing the collar between the ange h and a flange on the upper end of the collar, the opposite end of the lever resting on an arm, N, also bolted to the axle beam or plate, and provided with a pin on its under side, so that when changing the position of the collar the lever may be held by inserting the pinin one of the four holes h which the arm is provided with. O is the rocking shaft, having an arm, O', projecting up in the rear of the collar, and caused to press against either the flange or the studs thereof, according to the position of the collar when moved by the lever, by a spiral spring, I).

The rocking shaft is supported in brackets bolted to the under side of the machine, and is connected with the shifting-bar by the levers s t, the shifting-bar having a pivot passing through the plate, and then connected with the small` lever t, which is pivoted to the crank-lever s on the end of the rocking shaft.

When the driver desires to shift all the rakes, by placing the pin of the lever in the first hole of the arm N from him, the heads of the rake-arms will be diverted over the gate q and cam-guide e, and hence shift the rakes. (See Fig. 2.) Byplacin g the pin of the lever in the second hole, the collar will be moved on the shaft so that only one of the studs thereof will be caused to impinge against the arm O, and press it outwardly, and hence all of the rakes will be shifted except one. By placing a positionat rightangles with theiraxis, and

the pin of the lever in the third hole, the co1-A lar will be moved on the shaft so that both studs thereof will be caused to impin ge against the arm, and press it outwardly in such a man# ner that every other rake will be shifted. By placing the pin of the lever in the fourth hole, the collar will be moved on the shaft so that its ange will be caused to press the arm outwardly, and retain it in that position, and hence all of the rakes will operate without being shifted.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The sliding collar K, provided with the ange h, in combination with the arms O and S of the rocking shaft, and the gate q, so ar! ranged as to cause all of the rakes to sweep the platform, substantially as described.

2. The sliding collar K, having radial studs i i so arranged thereon as to rotate in different planes, so that only one, or every other one, of the four rakes may sweep the platform, substantially as described.

3. The rocking shaft O, with arm O and crank-lever S on the end thereof, in combination with the gate q, substantially as described.

I'. LANCASTER. 

